Porretta wasted no time in getting involved with the entertainment industry. By the age of 25 he was already a veteran of Broadway and a student at the Manhattan School of Music. In 1990 Porretta broke into television with recurring roles on shows like Wings and Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1993 he was given his first major movie role, as Will Scarlet O'Hara in Mel Brooks' spoof Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Interestingly, Porretta would star as Robin Hood in his own TV series four years later. Since 1997 he has starred in many independent movies and been featured in commercials for McDonald's and Arrowhead Water. In 1994 he appeared in the original Broadway cast of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion.